Prince Foundation/Prince Charitable Trusts

The Prince Charitable Trusts (Prince) is a family foundation with giving programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Rhode Island. Supporting the arts in Chicago has been a core component of its work since its inception in 1947. Prince also awards grants in environment, health, emergency services, early childhood care, and philanthropy. For nearly 15 years, Prince has operated the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Prince Charitable Trusts (the Fund), which re-grants MacArthur Foundation funds to provide awards and technical support to mid-sized arts organizations in Chicago. This award renews support for the Fund.

The Prince Charitable Trusts is a family foundation with giving programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Rhode Island. It has been a strong supporter of the arts in Chicago since its inception in 1947, and also awards grants in environment, health, emergency services, early childhood care, and philanthropy. For 12 years, Prince has been a partner to the MacArthur Foundation in its grantmaking, supporting 45 – 50 mid-sized arts and culture organizations (with budgets between $500,000 and $2 million) in Chicago. In the course of its work, Prince has identified needs beyond general operating support that are commonly experienced by successful organizations. One of those needs is improved financial management, a critical skill that contributes to an organization’s long-term operational health. This grant supports up to eight grants which will assist mid-sized arts organizations in the MacArthur/Prince portfolio in strengthening their financial management practices.

The Prince Charitable Trusts is a family foundation with giving programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Rhode Island focused on the arts in Chicago, as well as the environment, health, emergency services, early childhood care, and philanthropy. Prince manages the MacArthur Fund at Prince, providing support to arts and culture institutions with budgets between $500,000 and $2 million. This grant will support up to five capacity building grants which will assist mid-sized arts organizations in this portfolio that are experiencing staff leadership transition. These organizations are strong artistically but often have underinvested in their administrative functions. The goal of these one-year grants is to give organizations the means to stabilize their operations and make well-informed decisions about their future.

The Prince Charitable Trusts operates as a family foundation with giving programs in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Rhode Island. It has been a strong supporter of the arts in Chicago since its inception in 1947. This grant renews the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, which supports mid-sized arts and culture organizations (with annual budgets between $500,000 and $2 million) in the Chicago metropolitan region. The re-granting arrangement was established to sustain the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to arts and cultural organizations in Chicago, and also improving service to the groups by retaining Prince’s staff, which specializes in support for mid-sized arts and cultural organizations.

The arts and culture program proposes this grant to the Prince Charitable Trusts to support a set of the Foundation’s mid-sized arts organizations, which are the most challenging organizations to sustain. This grant will support a third year of capacity building grants targeting mid-sized arts and culture organizations that receive general operating support through the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince. Ten one-time grants of up to $20,000 each will be awarded to improve operations, management, or the organization’s artistic work. This grant is intended to strengthen mid-sized arts institutions in Chicago to improve their long-term sustainability.